Iranian state media: President Masoud Pezeshkian issues an order to reopen international internet access, after a blackout lasting 87 days, per Netblocks
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian state media reported on Monday …
Reuters
Context & Ripple Effects
The reopening order follows an outage that NetBlocks characterized in related coverage as the longest recorded national shutdown in a connected society. During the blackout, connectivity reportedly fell to roughly 1% of normal levels; the domestic National Information Network became the principal available channel, while some users turned to Starlink, VPNs, and decentralized messaging tools.
The episode matters because it exposed the economic cost of prolonged disconnection: related coverage cited business warnings of layoffs and closures, making restored international access consequential not only for communication but for firms dependent on cross-border connectivity.
First-order effects
If implemented, the order restores international connectivity for Iranian users and businesses after 87 days, allowing services and communications that depend on external networks to resume.
Businesses that warned of closures or layoffs gain an immediate path to restart online operations, although the coverage does not establish how quickly or completely access will be restored.
Second-order effects
The return of international access could reduce immediate dependence on workaround tools such as VPNs, Starlink, and decentralized messaging, but their use during the blackout has expanded users' familiarity with alternatives to the domestic network.
The disruption gives Iranian businesses and their customers a fresh incentive to build continuity plans around multiple connectivity routes rather than assume normal international access will remain available.
Third-order effects
A shutdown of this duration makes connectivity risk a persistent operating constraint for the country’s digital economy, potentially favoring services able to function on domestic infrastructure or maintain offline and alternative-network fallbacks.
If long blackouts recur, the resulting split between domestic-network dependence and user-led circumvention will deepen, with uncertain implications for the viability of internationally connected digital businesses.
The trend: This is a data point in the broader shift toward internet access being treated as both a state-controlled infrastructure layer and a business-continuity risk, rather than a dependable utility.
According to reports from Iranian Ham-Mihan, President Pezeshkian has reportedly ordered the restoration of international internet access in Iran. - If confirmed, this could signal that Tehran believes the immediate phase of the crisis is stabilizing, at least enough to ease
🚨 JUST NOW: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian is claiming to RESTORE international internet access for Iranians, state media says, after nearly 90 DAYS of web blackouts Hopefully it holds, but I wouldn't put it past them to enter blackout mode again The Iranian people have [vide…
🇮🇷 Reports coming in that Iran is preparing to reconnect international internet access, nearly 5 months after shutting it down on January 8. 90 million people. $35 million a day in economic damage. Over a billion dollars total. The timing is never random with Iran. What are [imag…
The President of the Islamic Regime is a puppet and has zero control/influence over the system or the decision to cut off internet access in Occupied Iran. This is probably a desperate ploy by Pezeshkian to appear “reasonable” to the outside world. Let's see how it plays out.
Iran's advisor to the Minister of Communications announced the possibility of access and lifting of restrictions to the international internet next week. This means that the Pezeshkian government has assessed that the threat of danger has passed and agreement is likely (if
The longest nationwide internet shutdown is ending. @netblocks reports partial restoration to internet connectivity in Iran after a 88-day long blackout.
📈 Confirmed: Live metrics show a partial restoration to internet connectivity in #Iran on day 88, after 2093 hours of near-total isolation from international networks, the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history. It is unclear if the restoration will be sustained. …
⚠️ Internet connectivity remains cut in #Iran with the digital blackout now having entered its 88th day, surpassing 2088 hours of isolation from the outside world. Metrics confirm the shutdown currently remains in effect despite the president's order yesterday to restore access. …